was not level and no matter what we did, it just seemed to slowly sink
back into an angle again. So we left it like that and went to sleep.
The park advertised wi-fi, but nope - none there. Anyway, after a
restless night of snoring and dreams of the immigration people not
allowing the doglets back into the USA (my nightmare), we packed up
early and headed further south. When we came into Canada we were
asked for the rabies papers for both dogs...... Allie has her tag, but
Sophie has not yet got hers. We had no paperwork for either of the
dogs with us - did not even think about it, so my night was filled
with plans of sneaking them back across the border. I have no idea
why this plagued me so much - but it did. We found the duty free shop
right before the border again and loaded up on some more chocolates -
with a bit of luck there will be some left for the kids by the time we
get home again :) Then we headed to the border - Kingsport Crossing.
My hands have always got really clammy when having to deal with the
Immigration Department, ever since that very first time we arrived
here in the USA. So, with sweaty palms and a determination to be cool
and calm and collected, we pulled up to the window to be met with a
guy that was very po-faced, no smiles but he did not even have our
potatoes taken away - no agricultural search or confiscation this
time! I bet that if I had a blood pressure meter on my arm while
going through these border crossings, that I would be off the chart
and I always heave a big sigh of relief when we pull away from those
little windows. Somehow just the idea of dealing with immigration
makes me feel guilty of something! Weird.
Leaving Canada always has a sad feeling to it. The scenery
immediately changes and all wildness, or impression of it, is gone.
The fences are back in full force and the overhead powerlines litter
the sky everywhere. We arrived back in the very northern panhandle of
Idaho - potato land and saw everything but potatoes........ There are
long hills of wheat fields , cattle, small towns, tiny winding roads
that all go to the top of the hills and way down those long gentle
hills to a tiny little stream, only to head right back up again. It
was a very quiet ride and quite a let down after the open roads in
Canada. But gas is much cheaper here - just an example: It takes
around $200 to fill the gas tank in Canada and 'only' about $120 here
in USA.
We drove for hours and hours through these wheat fields feeling quite
awed at the amount of time the farmers have to put in to reaping the
crop of the land. There are a good many wooden barns, big and small,
that are precariously leaning and obviously not in use any more, but
there they stay, I guess until they just gently collapse. The wheat
grows all around them - it's as if they have some sacred or secret
meaning and no one want to tear them down and use the land.....very
strange and quite amazing just how far they can lean over and still
stay standing!
We had decided to do a bit of Opal mining so were screaming down,
directly south into Northern Nevada to the Rainbow Opal mines. I had
dreams of finding an awesome opal - but not quite sure what to do with
it once I had it. And we drove and drove, stopped at Walmart to buy
some digging tools and buckets and hit the road again...... Then we
went on a road that just went on and on, around corner after corner,
up and down the hills in a really rocking kind of way, except for the
times when the grade was so steep that we could only just get up to 18
miles per hour! On the lower sections of this road, we were joined by
a simply beautiful stream with the greenest of green grass growing all
along the sides of it. The water was crystal clear and there were
really big fish in it, all swimming upstream. I tried to get some
photos, but have not had much of a look at them yet. It was very
quiet next to that stream but the wildest thing we saw there was a dog
trying to catch the fish.....
Most of Saturday and Sunday was spend driving these tiny roads and
even though they seem to go on and on, there are always strange
things to see. We saw a really old airplane parked in someones front
yard, many shoes along the road, never in pairs. On almost every
corner there is a house stuck in there with barely place for a
driveway. Some of them look like a nightmare and others are absolutely
brilliant with all the different flowers hanging from pots all over
the outside of the house and filling the small space around the
house. Mostly these are tiny houses, old and obviously in need of
work. Many places have a good many rv's in different stages of
disrepair and most often with a tarp over the roof - well, I guess it
started off on top of the roof...... Do they collect these from the
side of the road, or are they just a story of their journeys? Some
places have all their junk piled up in huge piles and a good many had
everything just lined up in what looked like a scrap metal dealers
dream. Quite amazing!
The hillsides all had plants with beautiful orange and yellow and red
leaves that just lit up as the sunshine hit them - they covered the
ground between the trees and made each turn in the road into another
beautiful expectation, especially when they reflected in that little
stream. At one point we stopped to walk the doglets and ourselves
and found a box of pistol shells and 26c just lying in the middle of
the pull off. There was also a deer carcass - there is definately a
story there but we did not stick around to figure it out either.
And then we saw a snake in the road, my window was open and Frank
slowed down as much as possible but could not pullover to let me get a
closer look - but it looked like a diamond back rattlesnake and I
could hear his rattle as we went past him! Unfortunately we could
not stop to look, there was a blind curve behind us and no side of the
road either. He was a good size and had a good strong rattle too...
We saw one other snake, a pitch black one that just looked like a
shadow as it whizzed over the road in front of us. And that was all
as far as wildlife around here went - unless you count the little
donkey that was in the back of the pickup that passed us. Seriously!
There it stood, as calm as can be, as he was driven down the road and
around those corners........ we just had to laugh.
And so, after a really long day of driving, Frank really tired from
wrestling and shoving and pushing and encouraging the rv all around
those little roads, well, then we arrived in Denio - the little 'town'
that was supposed to lead us to the opal mine. We saw no signs about
the mines, blinked and we had passed it! So we thought that we needed
to go to Denio Junction, just three miles down the road..... There was
a gas station, a bar and an rv park. Well....... Anyway, Frank went
into what we thought was the shop and came out a minute later just
wanting to get the heck out of town. No one spoke to us. Three
people sat at the front of the building on a small porch place, just
looking with no expression. It was quite nerve-wracking. We drove
through the rv park and decided that we would not leave a dead shoe
there, let alone the doglets if we were going to mine. So, with a bit
of discussion of "what now", we picked a road. We were not wanting to
go back along the way we had just come - we knew there was nothing
there.....and the next place was 95 miles away on the only good
looking road.... so, with a glance at the now fast setting sun, off we
headed. We landed in Winnamucca just as the last of the shadows
disappeared and the darkness set in for real. It was a looooooooooong
disappointing day.
So now we found ourselves back on an interstate - rather welcome after
so many days of tiny roads, but - we had been to most places south of
us, west of us and to go north again is just not an option on these
roads - so we headed east again on the interstate to Salt Lake City.
The interstates normally don't go through anything awesome and this
one was no different at all. Shrubs, hills, bland scenery only
brightened by all the different colors of the passing trucks and
cars. Many miles of small scrub, prettily lit up by the sunshine
again, a few interesting hills that looked as if a huge cat had clawed
it, leaving big gashes in them and a good many gas stations trying to
get $4.35 per gallon......... we found some at $3.89 which felt much
better, especially after getting to well below a quarter tank of gas!
The radio had been searching for a station for hours and hours and
right when we were going through a busy little town it came alive!
Full blaring volume - we both jumped and reached to kill it quickly!
Then we came to The Great Salt Lake Desert. All that salt! The
little fences bravely tried standing, but the wire was all eaten off
and mostly broken and there were big clumps of salt crystals around
all the wooden fence posts. It's weird to see all this whiteness and
it's bright on the eyes too. It's terribly flat around there too so
very difficult to get a good photo that really captures what it looks
like. Some of the hills look as if they are floating because of the
mirages. People have written their names and messages in the sand
with rocks and there are many places where we could see that people
had just driven off the road, done some circles in the salt and come
back onto the freeway......... it was tempting, for about a tenth of a
second!
And then I found out what menopause is going to be like. I sweated in
places that I did not even know sweated! Did you know that ears and
behind your knees sweat?? We went through Salt Lake City at rush
hour!! We were well ahead of time until a car wreck about 30 minutes
from it, closed the interstate for nearly an hour. So there we sat
just waiting and me imagining what was ahead. I could not have been
more wrong - it was worse. All the roads were being worked
on........and they had crunched three lanes of traffic into an area
that should have only housed two lanes and doubled the speed limit. I
swear that our rear view mirrors nearly kissed a good many cars and
trucks going by! I could feel that full-on menopausal hot flush
spreading from my toes, up my legs, through my gut - churning it all
over again, dumping a bucket under each armpit and out of the top of
my head each freakin time a car came passed us or we passed one.
Thank goodness that we did not have to drive near any tractor-trailers
in that 1000 mile stretch! I know, I know - it was only about 20
minutes, but I swear I lost 10 pounds and blondie (whom I had switched
off!) even slipped from my very wet hands! After we got out of the
other side onto more sane roads, I switched the fan to blow on my feet
to dry them off. Yes, it's crazy. Frank sits there, cool as a
cucumber and tootles us right through all the insanity, glancing at me
occasionally and quietly snickering at my squeaks and low animal
groans.......ok - so he laughed properly when we were all safe and
sound. I really think big town traffic should be banned and I am
going to navigate us around all and any places that are even one tenth
the size of this place.
So here we are in the small town of Coaltown, or something, scrunched
up into the smallest rv park we have come across - but its level, have
internet, tv and power too - no complaints! :) Tomorrow we will pull
out the map to see which way from here...... there is rain coming in
behind us and Ike the hurricane coming into the Gulf of Mexico below
us which has blown away any idea of beach walking. We will head back
into Wyoming for starters and go from there - who knows what we come
across - there's a lot of lovely country between us and home.........
love and light
Annie
Picture link: http://photobucket.com/annieb
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